Page hits. I feel popular!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Gaijin Gunpla is the title of this blog, and also has become somewhat of a nickname for me by the online Gundam model community, however, there is more to Plamo than just Gunpla, as I am finding out.

And I am branching out!

I was asked to put together the new Wave 1/20 scale Ma.K. Snowman as a blog entry on the hobbylink.tv site, and of course, because I will do whatever it takes to help my company succeed, I agreed to build a plastic model kit.

My co-worker, who has never built a plastic model kit in his life, really liked the look of this machine and picked up the kit for himself. He asked me the basics of building and I have been offering him hints on what tools he would need and what to do and not do when building a kit. He then asked me, "Can you make it look like this?"

And so the challenge has been made, the gauntlet thrown down, the bet placed.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Finally I am able to get a start on my Musha MkII. I know fellow bloggers Busterbeam and lupes are already well underway on this kit and have written a few entries about it, which makes me feel like I am late to the party. But the time spent not building has not been wasted! (I do waste a fair amount of time, though. I just have less of it to waste these days with new projects being undertaken at work.)

I have some ideas of what I want my Musha to look like, but before I start hacking up plastic I want to make absolutely sure I know what my vision is. That takes research.

Luckily, I know a thing or two about Yoroi (鎧) or Japanese armour.

This is the definitive book when it comes to Japanese Armour. The title could be translated as 'Encyclopedia of Japanese Armour and Weapons'. Written by arguably the most recognized authority on the subject, the late Yoshihiko Sasama, this book gives you everything you want to know about armour and its history. And there are lots of pictures and diagrams. C'mon, I'll show you.

Yoroi

Patterns

More Yoroi

Undergarments

Different types of arm covers

Helmets

and Tachi (太刀）

As you can see, the blades included with this kit, although named 太刀 by Bandai, are quite different from the real thing. As these are designated tachi I intend to make my plastic ones look just like real ones, or as close as possible. There will be modding. More on that later.

I mentioned the vision, or perhaps the more appropriate term is 'rough idea' of what I wanted to do with this kit. I have two actually and haven't yet decided which way I will go. I have managed to find some pictures that accurately represent what I want.

This one carries the same look as the kit. Some work will need to be done to the armour to make it look like more like, well, armour. The colours also look pretty good to me with that orange trim. I'm a sucker for orange.

This is the famous Date Masamune's suit of armour, identifiable by the crescent moon shaped ornament on the Kabuto (helmet). This suit goes more with the normal colours found on the Mk II and also has some light orange trim.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Rather recently Hobbylink Japan started up its side project, Hobbylink.tv, as a way to offer those interested in the Hobby Industry a behind-the-scenes look at various companies and projects as well as more information on the products HLJ carries. The response has been fantastic and led to many discussions about what else we could offer.

When asked for my input my response was simple;

"Gunpla."

I'm sure readers of this blog are well aware of the attraction of Gunpla and its enormous popularity around the world, which is why I mentioned it without hesitation. That and it's always on my mind. ;)

After some discussion about what kind of videos we could make about Gunpla the opinion was voiced that we should just start at the beginning. Introduce Gunpla through hobbylink.tv to those who may not know about it and also offer those familiar with it something new to see.

As I am the 'resident-Gunpla-builder' here they asked me if I would be willing to appear in the videos.

Of course I would! I would love to introduce Gunpla to the world! I would love to be the face of Gunpla! (not really). But most of all, I would love Gunpla to be my job. And now, in a small way, it is.

I tried to get a good close-up up the head here to show the panel line work as well as the final look of the V-fins.

And here's me trying to replicate that famous pose found in the instruction booklet... several attempts ;)Here you can see the aftermarket vents/nozzles after painting.In this shot you can see the aftermarket vent/nozzle I put in the shoulder, the job I did filling in the underside of the claws and the hollows on the red 'wing' which I also filled in. You also will not see the male/female connector on the underside of the armour which I successfully hid under a small piece of plastic.

There are several different categories allowing Gunpla builders old and new a chance to win some really good prizes, the biggest being the lusted-after upcoming Master Grade, THE-O!

There's actually two chances to win yourself THE-O. Hobbylink Japan wants to encourage viewer submitted content to hobbylink.tv by offering the upcoming enormous MG kit to the person with the best video submission.